Dangers of Avernus

By Kristoffer Stabell
Introduction
d100 Hazard
1-10 Cloud of biting flies

T
11-20 Bone fields
his is an expansion of Dangers of the
Wild and uses the same ideas to simulate 21-30 Quicksand
dangers of travel, please read it before you 31-40 Bubbling tar pit
read this. Dangers of Avernus assumes
you have the following: Dangers of the 41-50 Lava river
Wild, Dungeon Master’s Guide, Monster 51-60 Razor sharp stone cluster
manual, Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes and Baldur’s Gate
61-70 Poisonous fume
descent into Avernus. The purpose of this expansion is to
simulate Avernus and its perils. In this supplement you 71-75 Exploding war machine
will find Hazards native to Avernus that you can use to 76-80 Shrieking wind
challenge your players.
81-90 Acid rain
Changes to responsibilities 91-95 Fire wind

Maneuvering. In Avernus this responsibility uses the 96-99 Shrieking sandstorm

Arcana skill rather than the Nature skill. 00 Meteor shower
Navigation. Avernus warps its geography, this makes navi-
gating the wasteland based on luck. How to handle trave-
ling from A to B is explained in Baldur’s Gate descent into
Sample Hazards
Avernus. Navigation is still a responsibility but it is based
on chance rather than an ability check versus the DC. Cloud of Biting flies
Pacesetter. When traveling through Avernus on an Avernus
infernal war machine at a fast pace, the character that
is operating the helm of the leading war machine makes Event. A black cloud drifts toward the party with unnatu-
a constitution check with the war machine stats. If the ral speed, as the cloud gets closer everything around the
character has proficiency with land vehicles they add their party drowns in intense buzzing of thousands of flies that
proficiency bonus to the check. heavily obscures the landscape around them.

DC calculation changes in Avernus
Difficulty. The base DC for traveling anywhere in Avernus
is 20.
Infernal war machines. Driving through the blasted was-
teland of Avernus on an infernal war machine gives a -5 to
the DC calculation, making it easier to travel at a normal
or fast pace, but a party with an infernal war machine will
always get a total failure on the slow pace group check.
Precipitation. Instead of rain and snowfall, there is sand
blowing in the hellish wind, thick grey fumes that smell
like brimstone and flakes of red ash raining from the sky.
Effect. Every character in the area has to make a DC 13
Constitution saving throw, taking 6d6 piercing damage on
a failed save or half as much on a successful one as the
flies feed upon the characters flesh.
Bone field
Avernus
Event. The party comes across a 2d100 x 10 feet radius
field of bones. The area is difficult terrain and shrieks of
tortured souls tries to burrow inside of every living creatu-
re that enters the area.

Encounter frequency
Avernus is a war torn hellscape, the landscape is always
shifting and legions of fiends fight chaotic battles all over
the land. This makes Avernus extremely dangerous to
inhabit. Check for monster encounters every 4 hours and
hazards 2 times each day.
Hazards table
This table describes which hazard that can occur in the
in Avernus. All of the hazards are described under Sam-
ple Hazards later in this supplement. When a hazard
occur, roll a d100 on the table below.
Effect. The first time a creature enters the field of bones,
it has to succeed on a DC 13 wisdom saving throw or
take 4d6 psychic damage. A creature that stays inside
the field has to make the same saving throw every 12
minutes.
Quicksand
Avernus
Event. 1d4 of the party members steps in or 1 vehicle
drives in a large pool of quicksand. The sand is a mix of
crushed fingernails, bones, stones and tar. Only creatures
and vehicles with the size of large or smaller can be affec-
ted by the quicksand.

Effect. How quicksand function is described in the Dun-

geon Master’s Guide.
Bubbling tar pit
Avernus
Event. As the party traverse the wasteland a gust of sand
obscures a boiling hot tar pit. 1d4 of the party members
steps in or 1 vehicle drives in the boiling pit of tar. Only
creatures and vehicles with the size of large or smaller
can be affected by the bubbling tar pit.
Effect. The tar pit functions like quicksand with one
exception. A creature that enters the pit or starts its turn
there takes 6d6 fire damage as the tar burns the creatu-
re’s flesh.
Lava river
Avernus
Event. This encounter happens only if the party are
driving infernal war machines. As the party drives at high
speed, a river of lava appears and the war machines have
no other choice than to cross it.
Effect. Every creature on a huge or gargantuan infernal
war machine has to make a DC 13 dexterity saving throw,
taking 6d6 fire damage on a failed save or half as much
on a successful one as lava splash toward them. A creatu-
re at the helm of a Devil’s Ride has to succeed on a stunt
to get safely across the lake or the creatures riding the
infernal war machine takes 10d10 fire damage as they
wade through the stream of lava.
Razor sharp stone cluster
Avernus
Event. This encounter happens only if the party are dri-
ving infernal war machines. A cluster of stones sharp as
blades appears from nowhere that slash into the infernal
war machines.
Effect. Every huge and gargantuan war machine takes
4d10 slashing damage,
any unsecured creature on the outside of the vehicle must
succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or tumble off,
taking 4d10 slashing damage as the fall in the cluster of
sharp stones.
Poisonous fume
Avernus
Event. Thick black fumes envelop the party as they travel
through the blasted wasteland.
Effect. Every creature in the area has to succeed on a DC
13 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 48 hours.
Each 4 hours while poisoned this way a creature has to
succeed on Constitution saving throw or gain one level of
exhaustion. Lesser restoration or similar magic removes
this poisoned effect.
Exploding war machine
Avernus
Event. A wreck of a war machine explodes as the party
travels through the wasteland. Roll on the table below to
see what happens. The adventure Baldur’s Gate descent
into Avernus explains the effects of these events.
d10 Hazard
1-2 An Acidic Bile Sprayer explodes on in a 30 foot
cone hitting 3 nearest creatures.
3-4 A flamethrower mounted on the exploding war
machine ignites and sprays fire in 60 foot line
hitting the 2 nearest creatures.
5-6 The explosion sends a wrecking ball flying towards
the first war machine. Make the usual attack roll
for the wrecking ball at the leading infernal war
machine.
7-8 The explosion erupt in a massive ball of fire that
hits 4 of the nearest creatures. The affected crea-
tures has to make a DC 12 dexterity saving throw,
taking 8d6 fire damage on a failed save and half as
much on a successful one.
9-10 A necrotic smoke screen erupts from the exploding
war machine affecting the 6 nearest creatures.
Shrieking wind
Avernus
Event. A wind throws large portions of sand towards the
party, forming a face of agony and anger that shrieks into
the minds of the characters.
Effect. All the characters have to succeed on a DC 12
Wisdom saving throw or take 4d12 psychic damage.
Acid rain
Avernus
Event. Acid starts pouring down from the hellish sky and
starts burning the skin of creatures that is affected by it
Effect. Creatures takes 1d6 acid damage at the start of
their turn until they avoid the rain.
Avoiding the acid rain. On their turn, creatures can make
a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception or Survival) check, finding
a safe place to hide 2d10 x 10 feet away on a success.
Alternatively they can escape the rain by travel 5d10 x 10
feet away in any direction.
Shrieking sandstorm Meteor shower
Avernus Avernus

Event. A massive sandstorm filled with razor sharp bones
and shrieking from damned souls appears. The sand-
storm looks like a legion of devil faces filled with crimson
lightning that strikes violently inside it. Have the players
roll initiative and roll a d6 where the result symbolizes the
direction of a safe zone 2d10 x 10 feet away.
Constant element. Every creature that starts its turn
in the area is affected by a sandstorm effect. Roll on the
sandstorm effects table. The area affected by the sand-
storm is considered difficult terrain.
d20 Sandstorm effect
1-10 Razor sharp bones
11-17 Shrieks of the damned
18-20 Crimson lightning
Razor sharp bones. Bones sharpened by hellish sand
comes flying towards each creature inside the sandstorm.
Every creature has to make a DC 13 dexterity saving
throw, taking 3d6 slashing damage on a failed save and
half as much on a successful one.
Event. Hellish meteors plummet towards and around
the party and lasts for 1d4 minutes. Have the players roll
initiative and roll a d6 where the result symbolizes the
direction of a safe zone 2d10 x 10 feet away.
Constant element. Meteors are constantly crashing aro-
und the characters, decimating the surrounding landsca-
pe. At the start of each creature’s turn roll a d6, on a 1 a
meteor hits the creature and everything within 10 feet of
it. Everything affected by the meteor has to make a DC 17
Dexterity saving throw, taking 10d6 fire damage and 10d6
bludgeoning damage or half as much on a successful one.
Surviving the meteor shower. On their turn, creatures
can use an action to search for a safe place from the mete-
ors with a successful DC 15 wisdom (survival/perception).
A character can also run in a random direction or follow
other party members. If the character runs in a random
direction, roll a new d6 to determine a new safe locati-
on within 5d10 x 10 feet away which is unknown to the
character.

Shrieks of the damned. The shrieks of tortured souls

ring in the ears of each creature inside the sandstorm.
Every creature has to make a DC 14 Wisdom saving
throw, taking 5d6 psychic damage on a failed save and
half as much on a successful one.

Crimson lightning. Lightning of blood and ash strikes

violently inside the sandstorm. Every creature has to
make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 8d6 ligh-
tning damage on a failed save and half as much on a
successful one.

Surviving the Sandstorm. On their turn, creatures can

use an action to search for a safe place from the sand-
storm with a successful DC 15 wisdom (survival/percep-
tion).
A character can also run in a random direction or follow
other party members. If the character runs in a random
direction, roll a new d6 to determine a new safe locati-
on within 5d10 x 10 feet away which is unknown to the
character.

Fire wind
Avernus

Event. A wind of raging fire blasts through the party.

Effect. Every creature in the area has to make a DC 15

Dexterity saving throw, taking 9d6 fire damage on a failed
save or half as much on a successful one.